16 Scheme

It was easy for those intruders, who had something wrong with their head, to die. In the end, only 3 of them were left when they barely reached the entrance of my home. But, the difficult part of resolving the issue was on me.

Thanks to Elisa's help, the sounds of those 'Safe' goblin machinery's explosions reached the heavens. Especially on such a silent night, anybody from 3 streets away could hear it. Before, this was called a haunted house, but now, its infamy was going to spread even further.

Completely within my expectation, upon realizing that the location of the reported case had been the living quarters of the 'poisonous tumor', the Town Security army immediately woke up all their sleeping sisters and sent out an impressive formation of 30 elite Knights.

Led by a legend-rank Holy Knight, the formation consisted of 30 Holy Knights, every member being at least silver-rank… This was already sufficient enough to challenge a dragon. Were they here to save someone or merely making use of this opportunity to get rid of the 'poisonous tumor' who was affecting the city's climate? The answer was obvious to see with one look.

"That Lich bastard, we always lack evidence to prosecute him. This time, Yawen will lead Team A to conduct the rescue mission while I will lead Team B to conduct the raid. Hehe, I don't understand why the Hall of Enforcement is always siding with him but I refuse to believe that the Lich doesn't possess a single banned good. If we succeed in the raid this time, as the captain, I will treat you all to drinks."

"Ohhh, get rid of him! For our classic magazines in our storage room… that got exploded!"

"Hehe, let's first tie him up and hang him from the sky. Then, spin him until he vomits and afterwards, send him flying straight to the wall with the Spirit Horse… Sisters, the time for revenge had come!!"

"For Momo's little bear!"

"For my dowry! Knights, charge! Attack!"

From these passionate roars, it could be seen that someone did not neglect doing good deeds in his pastime… The depth of hatred was beyond normal.

The Lich with a loose screw may not have committed any major crimes but if we were talking about the mental turmoil the Town Security suffered due to his pranks… even all of the criminals added up together were unable to equal to a half of his achievements.

If they managed to take him down this time, not only would they receive a bonus reward from the captain but they could also pay back him back for blowing up their base and all the other grudges from the past. Ever since they set off to apprehend the Lich, their morale was exceptionally high and they managed to run at a speed surpassing that of riders.

When the Town Security finally arrived at the scene, they unexpectedly found their head, The Guardian of Steel Xueti on the premise. Furthermore, looking at the corpses on the floor, their faces turned pale white. Their grudge with the Lich got pushed away to the back of their mind.

"Dark Elves? Why?"

The corpses were that of their brethren. Looking at the Spider Silk Shadow Hat that boosted one's movement speed in the shadow, the Cat's Sneakers which reduced the sound of footsteps, a dagger and knife with a green glow on its edge, even if one would not consider their terrible reputation, the reason why they were here was obvious at a glance.

"It is the standard equipment for the Venomous Spider Gang when on assassination missions. A 2nd job advanced Assassin requires the blessing of the Spider Queen. Only big families can afford to groom them."

On the surface, just being a Dark Elf could be considered a sin and even in the underground world, many places chose to capture the Dark Elves first before starting an investigation and questioning. Furthermore, they normally weren't wrong in their arrests. Of course, for demons and devils, you wouldn't go wrong burning them before an investigation…

In this world, there were times when a race itself was seen as a representation of kindness or evil and represented the faction they belonged to. In Sulfur Mountain City's case, they were considered to be eccentric for using the 'evil and chaotic' Dark Elves as guards for the city.

If it was just her brethren committing crimes, Town Security captain Diana was already used to it, they only needed to punish them accordingly. But the shout from the back made her heart stop.

"It is Carlos from the 7th Family. He came with the Morsblight diplomatic team."

"Morsblight City?" Just thinking about the name of her hometown, Diana flashed a bitter smile. As an outcast that now worshipped the Holy Light, she didn't have any good memories from the time she spent in the territory of the Spider Queen. "…What shall come, will come. The Spider Queen never forgets her enemies and the word 'forgiveness' does not exist in the dictionary of Dark Elves. From the start it was impossible for them to just let us go."

As Dark Elves, even though they converted their faith to believe in the Holy Light, they had never forgotten those underhanded methods. That was also why, for criminals, the Sulfur Mountain City Dark Elf Knight squad was difficult to deal with.

Arunide was planning to get rid of these traitors of the Spider Queen but at the same time, the Dark Elf Knights were wary of these 'diplomatic ambassadors' from their hometown. At the very least, tabs from the spies on the doorstep of the hotel which the diplomatic team was residing in never stopped.

But obviously, they still underestimated these elites from their hometown. They managed to bypass the spies they had sent out and in the worst-case scenario, the recent serial murder case was caused by them…

"Yo, isn't this Captain Diana? Haven't seen you in a while."

As usual, this Lich was speaking a bunch of nonsense. However, unlike in usual days, the worried Diana wasn't in any mood to find trouble with him. She was apprehensive of what was going to happen during daybreak when the news of casualties from the diplomatic team would come to light. Would Morsblight City, which never takes an insult lying down, blame this incident on her and her sisters?

Even if she were to neglect the response from hometown, the recent suspicious movements of the Dark Elves in the city had brought upon them great pressure and now that those Dark Elves that tried infiltrating the Lich's living quarters were found dead at the scene, it was the same as them being caught in the act.

While she expected such a thing to happen, what she was truly worried about was when the citizens discovered that the true culprit behind the serial murderer case recently were Dark Elves, then based on her understanding of her brethren, it would be harder for them to gather any evidence.

If they were unable to resolve the case swiftly, the name of the Town Security might take a blow. After all, before this incident, there were already a few big merchants murdered and being unable to solve these cases, they were subjected to quite a bit of pressure by the populace.

"Diana, your luck isn't bad this time. Looks like the case of the murder of the merchants can be considered to be concluded."

"Concluded? The consecutive killings directed towards merchants?" Hearing that, the Dark Elf Knights shook their heads violently, their faces full of surprise and disbelief.

"There was evidence!?"

Diana found it difficult to believe. Even though they suspected that the murderers were those fellows from the diplomatic team, but Dark Elves rarely left concrete evidence behind. Furthermore, as a law enforcer of Sulfur Mountain City, they could not lay their hands on any suspects without concrete evidence, especially towards ambassadors, thus they were severely limited having to stick to simple surveillance.

"Yeah, this fellow actually brought the hit list with him. So we finally have the concrete evidence, we lacked previously. We can even take this chance to send a letter of protest to Morsblight City."

At this instant, the solemn large block of metal was extremely overjoyed, a rarely seen sight. Well, I guess that was to be expected. As the Head of the Hall of Enforcement, being unable to resolve the case of the serial murders, the pressure he felt was probably even greater than theirs.

"Right, are the Beyar brothers still under custody?"

"Hm? Beyar?"

"That pair of explosive-obsessed maniacs."

"Oh, that pair of green-skinned ticking time bomb. To save money, they actually chose to use RDX (a type of highly volatile explosive used for blowing up mountains) as the power source of the machinery. It was impossible for such a thing to not explode. They keep on insisting that they are innocent, that it has been a 'secret recipe passed down by their ancestors' and definitely safe. They are also unwilling to pay the bail and fine, so we are currently collecting evidence to launch a complaint, sue them for the creation of dangerous and inferior goods. But, we still can't find any evidence because all their products that exploded…"

"There is evidence now! Look at these Dark Elves and those broken machinery pieces, don't you find that their cause of death seems quite familiar?"

"Xueti, despite looking so honest on the outside, you sell out your friends without a hint of hesitation." Hearing that Tauren law enforcer talking excitedly, I couldn't help but draw a cross for the Beyar brothers in my heart and pray for them. Then, without hesitation, I joined the betrayer club…

"Lord, it was all the fault of those greedy goblins. Just a while ago, my maid went to the Safe Goblin Machinations to purchase some furniture. But, all the furniture we bought ended up exploding. Fortunately, those kind-hearted people over there helped me to avoid a tragedy. Otherwise, the one dead one would definitely be me. Lord, you must redress my grievances!"

"Dark Elves being good-hearted people? Aren't Liches already dead? Could they die again? Besides, it would be weird if a walking trouble like you could die." Looking at how the corner of the eyes of these two law enforcers kept twitching, I could roughly guess what they were thinking.

At least, their gaze surely seemed to tell 'Do you really take us for idiots or are you just an idiot yourself?'. Their lack of trust made me unhappy, especially when I was restricted by the God Equipment Curse and therefore unable to lie… I really didn't know anything about it; those Dark Elves really did help me ward off a calamity.

"Hey hey, if you don't start showing some trust, you better be careful of my complaints. I will secretly make your life difficult and send you all to the sulfur mine as watch guards!"

"Cough cough, the destructive ability of the Beyar brothers' machinations shouldn't be that great though?" Finally recalling that such a gaze was rude, Diana turned her glance elsewhere and diverted the topic.

Seeing the presence of her superior here, she understood reluctantly that her plan to land the Lich in trouble had gone down the drain. However, she had once personally experienced the might of the explosives and it was highly improbable for the elites of Morsblight City to die to such unplanned small-scale explosions.

"It's this." Xueti retrieved a silver fragment from the corpse's wounds.

"High purity Holy Silver Beads. It seems that it had been embedded in the engine of the machinations such that once it explodes, the explosion would provides kinetic energy to the beads, allowing it to work like the rifles of the Dwarves. The true murder weapon had been these fragments."

Looking at these Holy Silver fragments, my mouth began to twitch. "Elisa… You really planned everything out well."

"Looks like it really isn't your handicraft. Did you offend the Beyar brothers for them to plan to murder you?"

This time, I had no need to explain myself any further, all the suspicions were washed off. Holy Silver, a sacred object that was blessed by the Order gods. It was deadly to all Demons and Undead. Simply coming into contact with it could cause me devastating burns, and the damage would go straight to the soul. There was no way I could use it.

"Do I deserve this? To go this far." I recalled a memory from a while ago, one where Elisa's hands were bandaged. She was never one so concerned with chores, it must have been from when she had installed these Holy Silver fragments. Even for a half-demon, touching these things must have been excruciating.

"To avoid dying for no apparent reason, I should better pay up two years of her wages first…"

"Boom!!" Out of the blue, there were consecutive explosions and a large figure rushed out.

"Stop him!"

"Who is that?"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

How could they allow any suspicious figures to get away at this point? The Town Security went up and surrounded the figure, but the response they got was a ferocious battle cry from a Beastman.

With a flash of silver, his gigantic blade slashed in all directions like a dancing dragon. With disbelief in everyone's eyes, the elite weapons wielded by everyone instantly broke.

"How is this possible?! Ah!"

"Be careful, there is something wrong with his weapon! Don't go head on with him!"

"Kua kua kua!" A crisp reverberation sounded. Under the large blade, the thick armor of the Town Security was cut through like thin paper. Wherever the shadow of the blade appeared, cries of agony could be heard and blood splattered everywhere!

Making use of the momentum, the frenzied Beastman dashed out of the heavy encirclement.

"Voke, how could this be?!"

It was no wonder that Diana was able to immediately recognize this red-eyed half-Beastman. In order to catch this brutal and cunning criminal at that time, the Town Security had put in a lot of effort before finally succeeding.

"That can't be, how could he be so powerful."

Half-Elf Half-Beastman, a Bronze-rank Assassin. Even with both his eyes red and his swollen muscles, it seemed as if he went into a Berserker state exclusive to Beastman and Barbarians, but as a bronze-rank fighter, it was incredible that he was able to bash through a bunch of Knights of silver-rank and above.

"It's the blade! There's something wrong with that blade, don't touch it!"

The crowd quickly understood what was wrong. Even though everyone's weapons were quite bad, but in front of that giant blade with a dragon tattoo, it was just a matter of one or two slashes before it was cut into two.

"Make way!!"

A good weapon allowed one to challenge another surpassing their rank, but the one here now was Diana. Not only was the difference in abilities so great between the two, the sacred sword Silver Avenger was also an epic blade that wasn't a bit inferior to the Dragon Saber.

"Clang!"

The sword and the blade crossed edges, but the unlucky Silver Avengers was directly cut into two. Cracks also started appearing on Voke's blade from the impact and for a moment, Voke was defenceless. Diana sent him flying away with a fierce kick.

Diana's usage of force was so skillful that it should have kept him alive for questioning. However, poor Voke had first been tortured cruelly, next all of his energy had been sapped from the Frenzy, then he got controlled by his sword before a legend-rank Knight finally sent a kick to his chest. After vomiting two mouthfuls of blood on the ground, he had died instantly.

When the Holy Knights finally found something amiss with the situation and decided to use the once-a-day usage of Holy Treatment to save him, Voke was already without a pulse.

"I needed an explanation!! Why was Voke, who should be at the Sulfur Mountain City's prison here and why did these Dark Elf Assassins infiltrate this place!"

Saying that, she pointed the remaining half of her silver short sword at me. Looks like she wouldn't simply let this slide, unless she got her answer today.

But I simply smiled… Everything was going just as I expected, the fish got hooked onto the bait.

After a mutual glance with Xueti, I remained silent. In the end, he stood up.

"It is like this: Actually, Roland and the legal system have some secret dealings. He is an expert in souls and a master in interrogation techniques. Whenever we meet a stubborn prisoner, we would ask him for a favor…"

These explanations were actually the truth. At least, it was the truth known to Xueti. Diana had already been vaguely suspicious of how the legal system was too lenient with the Lich in front of her. It was weird that when she was chasing him that Lord Wumianzhe just happened to appear before them and also weird that the Head of the Hall of Enforcement arrived here as well.

"Yeah, we are all one big family." I couldn't lie, so this sentence was definitely the truth. In reality, I was saying that 'I am Wumianzhe' but in the eyes of the Holy Knights, they thought that I was confessing to the dealings with the legal system. In this instant, Diana reacted just as I anticipated, with a look of realization.

"Hmph, no matter who's behind you, don't let me catch you committing any crimes! Otherwise, no one will be able to save you! Retreat!"

Before leaving, she threatened me menacingly in the presence of her superior. She really was the ideal example of a dumb Knight, so innocent… so easy to make use of!

Just as I was laughing at them while watching them taking the body along with their team, I heard a familiar voice just beside my ear.

"The confession we just got out of Voke has been ascertained by the experimental subject known as Arunide. I have already copied 2 reports and sent it to Margaret and Lord Adam through the secret channel. However, my Lord, wasting so much effort for just a show and even exposing your relationship with the legal system on the surface, was it worth it?"

"Of course, it was worth it. To say the truth, I underestimated the psychotic killer. To think he had such an important secret in his hands. In order to calm down those who were on the verge of taking action, Voke had to die and it had to be in front of everyone else. This way, as long as the experimental subject really escaped, the rumor of the diplomatic ambassadors trying to escape in the middle of the night would look authentic as well. After that, as long as our experimental subject reports the false news obediently, I doubt that they would suspect that their intelligence had been leaked."

"You played out such a show just to numb those fellows? Even paying an epic weapon in the midst?"

"That Dragon Saber? That was a useless good to begin with. The 1% chance of Frenzy actually increases by 1% every second, which means that after 2 minutes, one would recognize no kin. It is better to just give it out. Besides, I remember that there was someone in the Town Security who could use that saber, and aren't the Town Security my arms? Their strength is as good as my strength."

"… Why do I feel that you are just 'cherishing1' them and protecting them by making the clues which they are investigating stop in their track so that they don't get involved and end up getting killed as your pawns?"

"Hah, such wild imagination." I laughed and looked up to the sky.

"That isn't the case. This incident involves the other underground city lords, the Malevolent Elemental Gods and that bunch of bastard traitors. The Town Security has great fighting prowess but some things just require one to use their brains. They don't have good political skills so if they were to get involved, they won't even be considered fit as being cannon fodder. It was difficult to create a Holy Light Knight Squad so to waste them just like that would be a waste. I still intend to get them to do a few more years of hard work after all."

While saying that, I started getting excited.

"An ancient Malevolent God and an Underground Autarch2. Looks like there's finally an enemy worthy of me going all out. Hehe, maybe this was the sign that a new age was about to come."